N. Korea 'wants six-party talks'
 |  Britain's Rammell has just completed a four-day visit to North Korea. |
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 Six-nation talks end without breakthrough
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BEIJING, China -- North Korea is committed to holding six-party talks aimed at resolving the crisis over its nuclear weapons program, British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said Tuesday, Reuters reported.
But Pyongyang has not indicated when it will return to negotiations, Rammell said.
He has just completed a four-day visit to North Korea.
"At the end of those discussions, what was clear to me was that the North Koreans were saying they were still committed to the six-party talks process but weren't prepared to commit to a date," Rammell said.
"I simply said to them, 'You have got to come back to the table."'
Delegates attending six-nations talks in Beijing in June had planned a fourth round of talks for this month.
The nations -- the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan -- said at the time they had agreed to hold further talks by the end of September.
On August 16, North Korea said it would not participate in working-level meetings connected to the six-party talks.
In recent days, Russian, Chinese and Japanese officials have encouraged their North Korean counterparts to resume participation.
After a visit to Pyongyang last month, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said there was "real hope" that the six-party talks would continue.
"I'm hopeful now the process can yield a positive result," he said.
But Downer conceded Pyongyang had not confirmed they would be attending the fourth round of talks.
A North Korean foreign ministry statement on August 16 accused the United States of not being interested in a meaningful dialogue and said there were no plans to shut down the country's nuclear facilities.
China said last month the six nations found some common ground in the third round of talks, with all parties agreeing that a freeze of the North's nuclear program should be a first step. But an official said that the United States and North Korea were still poles apart.
A key issue separating the two is Washington's claim that the North is operating a secret uranium-based nuclear program in addition to its declared program based on plutonium.
The North denies having a uranium program, but Washington says it must be included in any settlement.
The United States has labeled the reclusive North part of an "axis of evil" alongside Iran and pre-war Iraq.
North Korea has offered to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for compensation, including large amounts of energy aid.
